Road Surface Retexturing boosts Road Safety in West Berkshire
Building on successful programmes in previous years for West Berkshire Council, VolkerHighways, in collaboration with WJ Group, looked once again to employ road surface retexturing at suitable sites over 2023 and 2024 to restore or improve skid resistance to over 14,755m² of the local authority’s road network.
As vehicles travel over the surface, the skid resistance on asphalt roads naturally degrades, posing potential safety risks to road users. To address these concerns, VolkerHighways utilised retexturing specialist WJ Group to carry out two retexturing processes: captive shot blast retexturing and hydro retexturing, applying these techniques to 14,755m² of road over the past year. Both proven methods improve skid resistance by enhancing the texture of the roadway.
Captive shot blasting propels small, graded steel shot at the road surface, revitalising both its macro and micro texture. In contrast, Hydro retexturing uses high-pressure water jets to blast excess bitumen and binder from the road surface, restoring the aggregate to the pavement surface. During the summer, the aggregates compress into the softer bitumen, which bleeds through to the surface. The high-pressure water heads blast this out, restoring the skid resistance to its original state or even better
This approach offers substantial environmental and financial advantages. By choosing retexturing over traditional resurfacing methods, the programme has cut CO2e emissions by over 114,330 kg and conserved around 1,500 tonnes of virgin aggregates. Furthermore, West Berkshire Council has saved more than £300,000 and minimised road closures, consequently reducing inconvenience for road users.
Kunle Kolaru, Operations Director at VolkerHighways, commented: “WJ’s retexturing solution is a vital tool that helps our clients maintain the highest road standards, even with tightening budgets. At VolkerHighways, we continuously seek innovative ways to reduce carbon emissions, deliver value for money, and maintain quality. We are pleased to have partnered with WJ for another successful year.”
Matt Lowe, Director for WJ Retexturing Division, added: “We have been serving West Berkshire for over a decade, and it’s rewarding to see the ongoing benefits we deliver year after year. In the last 12 months, we’ve once again demonstrated the significant carbon savings achievable through retexturing. Our collaboration with VolkerHighways allowed us to retexture many locations across the authority, ensuring minimal disruption and immediate road usability upon project completion.”
Councillor Stuart Gourley, Executive Member for Environment and Highways at West Berkshire Council, said: “The Council is always looking at ways to improve our services to deliver best value for our residents, whilst ensuring we move towards our net zero ambitions. In using cost effective repair techniques such as retexturing we will ensure our highway budgets stretch as far as possible to improve our roads ensuring they are well maintained and safe.”
Through innovative solutions and suppliers, VolkerHighways and West Berkshire Council continue to improve road safety, reduce their environmental impact, and achieve notable cost savings—all while ensuring minimal disruption to the community.
